914-6: Transformer

“The wheel bearings in the trailing arms will probably last forever, and it was kind of a neat trick. Then we gusseted each rear trailing arm and boxed them all up and made them really strong so that there is no flex in the parts there.”

A careful look around the car reveals the extent to which JT and Troutman went. There are gussets, extra welds and strut-tower support rods aplenty. The cost of the fabrication work is mind boggling to contemplate, and it clearly adds considerable value to the vehicle as a whole. Such was the attention to detail during the chassis modifications that JT had Dick Troutman cut a trap door into the rear luggage compartment to provide easy access to the timing marks on the engine below.

But the project did not stop there. Indeed, part of the emphasis on beefing up the chassis was to allow the installation of a strong engine, and a full-blooded assault on the car’s drivetrain was the next stage of this conversion.

An Andial-prepared 2.8-liter 911 RSR engine is what went into the 914-6, complete with Carillo rods, race rocker arms and shafts (the lighter kind with adjustable caps), twin-plug heads with a twin-lead Marelli distributor, and new 46mm Weber carburetors. JT recalls the engine was essentially all new, and the only used part was a red engine cover from a 911 S that he used because the color matched. Later, Randall Aase also played a role in the motor.

It’s believed the engine is good for about 300 hp, so JT decided to hook it to a 915 “sprayed” transmission (hollow shafts and a sprinkler system for extra lubrication and cooling), but then elected not to hook up the trans oil pump.

JT explains why: “This gearbox can take up to about 350 lb-ft of torque and 450 horsepower without any modifications, and the sprinkler system would make it even stronger than that. The engine I had could only produce about 300 horsepower, and there is no sense in getting carried away!”

Still, anyone wanting to run the oil pump can do so. The gears are there and the ’box is set up for it. Inside the casing, the gear ratios are a standard 11/35 first gear, a trick 15/30 second gear, a 21/30 third gear, a 25/27 fourth gear, and a 28/24 fifth gear. With the tranny staged like that, JT estimated a top speed (at about 8000 rpm) of 150 mph. Plenty for the street, he figured, and also great for strong acceleration on short tracks.